1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to systems, methods, and apparatus for blind alignment of an electrical connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical connectors are often used in blind connection locations such as on the backside of an electrical device (e.g., circuit card, computer, hard drive, etc.) that will be connected to a back plane or mid plane of a mounting device as the electrical device is inserted into the mounting device. FIG. 1 shows a typical example of a blind electrical connection 100. The electrical device 102 includes an electrical connector 106. A mount 104 is designed to hold the electrical device 102. The mount 104 includes an electrical receptacle 108 located in a back plane of the mount. The receptacle 108 will mate to the electrical connector 106. The electrical connector 106 includes multiple electrical “male” pins and the electrical receptacle 108 includes an electrical “female” receptacle that corresponds to each one of the multiple male pins. As the electrical device 102 is inserted into the mount 104, the mount approximately aligns the electrical connector 106 with the electrical receptacle 108. As the electrical device 102 is fully engaged in the mount 104, the connector 106 and the receptacle 108 also fully engage. When the connector 106 and the receptacle 108 fully engage, the male pins within the connector 106 and the female receptacles within the receptacle 108 are engaged, thereby establishing the necessary electrical connections between the electrical device 102 and the mount 104. A blind electrical connection can be used in many applications such as, for example, in rack-mounted equipment (e.g., computers, etc.) or for connecting a circuit card or hard drive to a mid plane in a server chassis.
Computers and other electrical equipment are under constant improvement and modification. Often the interfacing connectors (e.g., blind electrical connections) are defined by an industry standard or for legacy reasons and therefore cannot be easily modified or updated. If a new chassis design includes a circuit card that has a legacy interfacing blind connector, then such blind connector may not be ideal for the new chassis. For example, the new chassis may be a conversion of a rack mounted design to a more ruggedized mobile, rack mounted design. As a result, manufacturing tolerances can change, the weight and sizes of circuit cards and their ruggedized reinforcing structures can increase, and other changes can occur. As a result, the legacy connector and corresponding receptacle may not align well, resulting in bent and shorted pins, difficulty in installing the circuit card, poor reliability due to lateral stresses caused by the increased weight, and other problems. While the legacy connector is no longer the ideal physical connection it does still preserve the desired legacy electrical interface.
In some instances, a new connector that includes alignment pins and more rugged construction may be designed to replace the legacy connector. However, designing the new connector can be very expensive, very time consuming, and may not be financially feasible in many circumstances (e.g., limited production run, etc.).
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a system and method for improving an existing blind electrical connector without requiring replacement of the entire electrical connector or the design and qualification of a new electrical connector.